Flip Saunders called this one about 90 minutes before it even began.
Asked to assess the Raptors, Washington’s head coach said his Wizards were basically playing themselves when they go up against the Raptors.
“Toronto’s like us. A very young athletic team that is building. They’re building around (Andrea) Bargnani ... Similar to us they have games they play pretty well and games they play pretty bad. That’s part of what youth gives you.
“They play well at home and struggle sometimes when they go on the road.”
And last night with his Wizards in the middle of a road trip, Washington played exactly like a young team on the road and the Raptors, comfortable at home, took full advantage.
The result was a one-sided 127-108 Raptors win where just about everything that could go right for the Raptors did

“I was a little nervous at first, it was faster and longer than I thought it was going to be,” Davis said.
Davis checked in halfway through the first and made an immediate impression, tipping in a Jose Calderon miss a couple minutes later.
Davis was very active for the Raptors early, changing shots at the rim and getting put-backs on offence as the team pulled away.
The former North Carolina forward got his first NBA throw-down late in the first half, when DeMar DeRozan set him up with a pretty behind-the-back pass.
He looked more tentative in the second half, blowing an easy layup, but later showed good hands in catching and converting a tougher lay-in.
Davis finished with 11 points, two blocks and six rebounds in 24 minutes
“I was just trying to play hard. It felt good to get out there and put on a Raptorsjersey for the first time.”
Perhaps the most important aspect Davis showed he might bring to the team is a shot-blocking presence, which will make things tougher for opponents inside.
Case in point, rookie-of-the-year candidate John Wall was unceremoniously denied by a massive Davis block early in the fourth.

The knife came a little earlier than even Reggie Evans expected.
Evans had surgery Wednesday in Charlotte to repair a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot.
He is expected to be sidelined approximately eight weeks.
Earlier this week Evans, via his Twitter account, informed his fans he would have surgery on Dec. 2. But a day earlier to the hospital means a day earlier back to doing what he loves to do.

Two moments, two glimpses of what might be, two plays that foment a sense of optimism around the Raptors.
No. 1:
DeMar DeRozan with the ball in the corner, an open jump shot available that he passes up to attack the rim, where he welcomes contact from Washington’s JaVale McGree, a bigger defender but DeRozan still finishes a layup, draws a foul and completes a three-point play.
No. 2:
Ed Davis is patrolling the middle of the court, sneakily watching for the shot to come, arriving seemingly out of nowhere to block it right into the hands of Jerryd Bayless, who streaks up court with Sonny Weems on his right, tossing a lob near the rim that Weems almost converts before he’s fouled.
“That’s one thing coach is stressing, push the ball and it was nice that we were able to get out and run,” said Bayless. “And with Sonny, all you have to do is get it near the rim and he’s going to be able to take care of the play. He got fouled on that one so he didn’t finish but I’m going to continue to do that.”

It was early this week, lamenting his team’s lack of defensive intensity sometimes, that Jay was talking about Andrea and how he’s one of the guys who, if he doesn’t get off to a quick start shooting the ball, tends to lose interest in defending and doing much of anything else.
Well, it looked like it was going to be one of those nights last night; Bargnani was pretty awful in the first six minutes and when he went to the bench for his usual rest, it looked like it’d be a long night.
But I have to tell you, he was as good at both ends of the floor in from the second quarter on than he’s maybe been all year.
Eight boards, quite a few in traffic on the defensive end, were good; the 18 points were scored in a variety of ways and you felt he was a threat every time he touched the ball.
The kid’s not bad.

Not only did Toronto (7-11) post its highest-scoring first half of the season (68), but at times it seemed they could hardly miss: DeRozan and Sonny Weems shot a combined 10 for 12 from the floor, Bargnani netted 15, and with two minutes to go before halftime, Toronto was shooting 71 per cent.
It was an even-handed offensive effort, with four Raptors – Weems, Bargnani, DeRozan and Leandro Barbosa – posting double-digit scores (they, along with Jerryd Bayless, were the Raptors' top scorers overall). And unlike the team's last game, against the Atlanta Hawks – a listless effort where they finished with 78 points total and were booed off the court by their fans – they were fired up at both ends, outrebounding the Wizards 25-14. Twenty-one Raptor points came from fast breaks, many instigated by speedy reserve guard Barbosa.

Davis checked into the game halfway through the first quarter and recorded his first basket just a minute later, tipping home a botched layup from Jose Calderon. By the end of the half, he was able to hammer home his first NBA dunk, coming off one of the Raptors’ multitude of fast breaks in the first half. Davis finished with 11 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
“Ed was good,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “He’s got that look about him where it doesn’t look like he’s giving you [a ton of effort.] But all of the sudden he’s at the rim, and he’s blocking shots. He had a couple blocked shots and a couple tip-ins. He’s right there with his hands above the rim.”
Davis’s defensive upside might be his best feature. His swat of a layup attempt from Wall proved just how much he can change a game on that end.
“That’s something we haven’t really had,” guard Jerryd Bayless said.

The rematch wasn't very competitive after the first quarter, as Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan were scoring as if the Raptors had somehow brought back Chris Bosh and Vince Carter in his prime. The Raptors had 36 of their 62 points in the paint in the first 15 minutes. After scoring just 78 points in their previous game at home against Atlanta, they had a season-high 72 points at halftime. They also dominated the Wizards on the glass, outrebounding them, 52-30.
Saunders is usually pacing the sideline for an entire game, shouting out plays and direction. But when the Wizards came out for the second half, he was seated on the bench, angrily watching the debacle unfold. "Listen, when you are outrebounded by 20, when you give up 60-some points in the paint, that's effort. That's just not digging in and fighting," Saunders said

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